Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Restaurant customer migration has been most
difficult for chain restaurants lacking differentiation. While Millennials are seeking food discovery,
others are simply tired of the same old same old. Foodservice Solutions®Grocerant Guru™ Steven
Johnson says “Differentiation does not mean different rather it means familiar
with a twist and today that twist must be clearly defined and noticeable.” I
ask do you have “Braggability’?

In
Henry Ford’s 1922 autobiography “My Life and Work” he famously remarked, “Any
customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is
black.” In this statement, Ford the pioneer of the assembly line was stating
that mass producing the same product in large numbers was the secret to keeping
prices low.

There
is one problem all things being equal, people like to have things that are made
just for them. Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ continually reminds us
that the consumer is dynamic not static. That helps explain the evolving retail
demand for a food platform that includes convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization.

Today,
eating-out while eating-at-home, take-out food, and meal component bundling are
leading ways in which people are looking to differentiate themselves, simplify
their lives, and same time.

Prior
to 2005 no one would have thought that the future of food was not a chain
restaurant. Streets were lined with
Look-a-Like Menu-a-Like steakhouses, fern bars and grills, Quick Service
Restaurants and food courts in every mall and city in the United States.

Not
any longer today the Grocerant Niche fresh prepared food hascaught
on fire. Once considered uniquely American the grocerant niche is booming in
Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa of late.
Universal commonalities of time saving, lack of cooking skill-set, meal
component bundling have taken root.

It
has become about discovery, simplicity, and transparency fresh food fast
without the labels of ingredients that no one wants to pronounce let alone
understand. New unique venues and menus are two of the biggest drives companies
the ilk of Pinkies Liquor stores, Wawa is much more than a C-store, Hello-Fresh
is a global Meal Kit success story driving new trends. Each has ‘Braggability,
they are different, notable driving non-traditional meals outlets and occasions
to social consumption acceptance.

Is
your restaurant experiencing positive customer counts? Are you catering to diners who are looking
for differentiation? Do you have a look alike / copycat menu?

Non-traditional
food retailers that serve great food in unusual surroundings offer a side of
‘Braggability’ while creating a social buzz that is becoming a roar. More and more that ‘Braggability’ is in the
form of Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. The restaurant business
is famously Look-a-Like Menu-a-Like outlets.
What do you give your customers to talk about? Boast about?

So
think about it. Does your restaurant have ‘Braggability’? How do you package
your food? How do you package a meal? Is
the meal you offer today the same as it was ten years ago? If so them maybe
your restaurant is running more like yesterday that today. Create ‘Braggability’ it’s simple it will
make you noticed by new customers and notable by your current customers.

Are
you trapped doing what you have always done and doing the same way. Interested
in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information.

Monday, September 29, 2014

While Whole Foods continues to
garner customer frequency with ‘better for you’ Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat
fresh prepared food. That Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ calls some of the most impressive and expansive fresh
food offerings within the industry.
Don’t for a minute think that is all they are working on. Here is a look at six additional initiatives
that are exploring to maintain customer relevance. They are:

1. Apple Pay

Whole Foods is going to
adopt Apple Pay, which is supposed to make mobile payments more convenient and
secure. People with newer-model iPhones and the iWatch will be able to use the
mobile payment system. As an early adopter of the technology, Whole Foods could
convert Apple-friendly customers.

2. Instacart Delivery Service

Whole Foods recently
announced a partnership with Instacart in 15 cities, allowing the company to
deliver groceries in just an hour. Customers can also buy a yearlong membership
for free delivery on orders over $US35. Whole Foods will be adding the delivery
service in 13 additional U.S. cities this year. Grom believes this will help
the company attract younger customers.

3. WFM Wine Club

Whole Foods is partnering
with Wine.com for the club. “The subscription program will begin on October 1,
enabling club members to receive four shipments of six bottles each year,
priced at $US125 per shipment, including shipping costs,” Grom writes. “The six
wines, sent on a quarterly basis, will be curated by global wine buyer Doug
Bell and Master Sommelier Devon Broglie.”

4. New Mobile App

Whole Foods’ current app,
which mainly features recipes, is largely ineffective, according to Grom. The
company plans to release an improved app that is expected to incorporate loyalty
rewards, order-ahead, and Apple Pay.

5. Marketing Campaign

In October, Whole Foods
will unveil a national marketing campaign for the first time in the company’s
history, according to Grom. The campaign will include television, internet,
mobile, and social ads.

The campaign will
“educate consumers on product quality and their options in the marketplace,
while also helping to differentiate Whole Foods from some of its competitors,”
Grom said.

6. Loyalty Program

Whole Foods is currently
testing a loyalty rewards program in New Jersey, with plans to roll out
nationally by 2015. The loyalty program is necessary because it could give
shoppers an incentive to go to Whole Foods over competitors.

Success does leave clues.
Whole Foods is dynamic not static and will find the all of the six
helpful. However its grocerant niche
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food that will continue to be the main driver
of top line sales and bottom line profits.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ stated that “differentiated
food does not mean food that is different; it means food and food products that
are familiar but with a twist”. Recent
research conducted by the Specialty Food Association, found “Millennials are
seeking specialty foods for snacks and on-the-go meals, … with younger adults
reporting spending more on specialty food than Baby Boomers and older
consumers.”

The Specialty Food Association (SFA) findings mirrored research
conducted for and reported in Nation’s Restaurant News that found Millennials
‘shy away from ‘restaurants’ described as chains, but are attracted to
‘restaurants’ that design each unit almost as one-offs to fit a
neighborhood.” Here are some of the SFA
results:

1.Specialty shoppers are spending one in four dollars on specialty
foods up from one in five dollars in 2013

2.Core specialty food consumers are ages 18-44 and affluent

3.Women are more likely than men to purchase specialty foods

4.18 to 24 year olds were the most likely consumers of ready-to-eat
food and beverages

5. 59% of U.S. adults
purchased specialty food products in the last six months.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

When
Jonathan Maze of the Restaurant Finance Monitor wrote, “Quick-service restaurants account for 80
percent of all restaurant traffic, while fine dining represents just 1 percent
of industry traffic. So where the quick-serve sector goes, so goes the entire
restaurant business. Restaurant traffic was flat over the year.”

Is it any wonder that
Foodservice Solutions® continues to talk about Hand Held Food and Hand Held Ordering? When the quick-service
restaurant sector accounts for 80 percent of all restaurant traffic the shift
in mind-set on how to sell, position or market fresh prepared food becomes
increasingly important.

The question facing more and
more food retailers is “When are consumers eating? Where are they eating? How
much can they afford to pay?” According to the Pew Research Center, Americans
in the upper fifth of the income bracket make 16.7 times those in the bottom
fifth. Is it any wonder then at 80% visit QSR?

Even Arlin Wasserman chair of the
Sustainable Business Leadership Council for Menus of Change, a joint initiative
of the Culinary Institute of America and the Harvard School of Public Health
points out that there is rapid
growth of “fresh and ready-to-eat restaurant-style meals as well as kabobs,
fish roulades and other foods with inventive flavors in grocery stores. It also includes fresh and frozen
ready-to-cook, center-of-the-plate choices, including marinated and portioned
meats and fish.” Now as Martha Stewart says “that’s a good thing’.

Evolving consumers drive
change and consumers looking to save time, reduce food waste, delegate meal
planning, and simplicity are willing to pay someone else to make these
important choices for us about food. The
solution can be found in a reformulation of the Price + Value + Service
formulation.

While the recession has seemingly accelerated an
inequality in discretionary spending, and a shift in How, Where, and Types of
fresh food sold. Customer migration is
underway.

Here is what we at understand
Foodservice Solutions® the U.S. populations continues to grow, consumers are
not eating less, they are eating somewhere else. We have helped many of those companies garner
new customers utilizing the 5 P’s of food marketing. Is your company growing customer counts?
Growing Top line sale and bottom line profits?
Where are your customers eating today?

Are
you trapped doing what you have always done and doing the same way. Interested
in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information.

If
you are interested in learning how integrating the 5 Pillars of Grocerant Niche
Food Marketing can edify your retail food products, brand, or restaurants while
creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization contact us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in
global outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and
qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, or a compressive
grocerant niche brand integration strategy. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions
of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more visit:
www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
or http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Restaurants,
Pizza Chains, Grocery stores understand that competition has undefined
boundaries and you can lose your market share to someone you would never
thought. The Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat
grocerant niche is evolving fast and competition is coming from new unconventional
food companies all the time. Are you prepared for competition?

Burger King and Betty
Crocker Kitchen both are two of the brands expanding boundaries by delivering
meals directly to homes and offices.
Generations of Americans have grown up with meals that Mom created from
a Betty Crocker Cookbook and have been taken to Burger King as kids. Today, meal delivery is not just about pizza,
or restaurants brands direct to consumer are edifying customer relationships
one on one.

General Mills Home Delivery

General Mills the
parent company of Betty Crocker Kitchens continues testing an on-line delivery
service in Minneapolis, Minnesota focused on some of consumer favorite meals. Today General Mills direct to consumer is
offering “25 frozen meal options ranging from pot roast, meat loaf, chicken
dishes, pastas and breakfast omelets to pancakes. Most of the meals involve a
protein, starch and a vegetable, and they have less than 700 mg of sodium.”

Betty Crocker Kitchen
meals arrive frozen and have ease of preparation as a focus. General Mills
understands that 50% of U.S. adults are single so each of the frozen meals are
in single-serving trays with easy-to-open packaging and simple heating
instructions. Branded meals edify expand and edify customer relationships.

Burger King Expanding
the Brand

Burger King is
currently delivering via “BK Delivers” service in Washington D.C., Houston and
New York City and in growing number cities across the United Stated. The Burger
King Ready-2-Eat fresh prepared food is offered for lunch or dinner both at
home and or office options. It’s as easy as Point, Click and Eat.

Burger King
International has been delivering food in many different markets for years but
this is the first for the United States. Burger King said that “Overall guest
satisfaction scores have been extremely positive with our new delivery service”.
Burger King continues to evolve its
offerings, packaging, and messaging around Ready-2-Eat fresh prepared meals
that can be bundled for delivery.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Success does leave clues and from time to time
there are industry icons that have garnered many that we link to share. Bill Bishop, chief architect, Brick Meets Click, during at recent presentation listed five clues
we would like to share today. They are:

1-Put the Focus on Customer Solutions: That might involve "solution
selling" in a way that increases transaction size, or creating
subscription systems for products that lend themselves to this approach, he
said. A good strategy is "building more dialogue and conversation with the
community online."

2-Tell More Stories: The online space is a good platform for
communicating stories about products, and consumers are very open to this
information, Bishop said. "Tell stories to make emotional connections.
Social media is a good way to do this."

3-Put Mobile Into Everything You Do: Marketers need to understand the fast rates
of mobile usage growth and the steady movement toward mobile payment systems.
Bishop said mobile needs to be considered in a wide range of strategies,
including for search, email, websites and online ordering.

4-Test and Learn: There's
no substitute to learning from successes and mistakes in the digital realm,
Bishop said. "Digital brings information on what works. You need to read
and respond."

5-Plan for E-Commerce Growth: Bishop
said this type of purchasing will continue to advance and marketers need to
build their strategies now to take advantage of it. "Just expect more
online selling," he emphasized.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Legacy food retailers risk being
marginalized by new concepts with smaller footprints, fresh prepared food and
faster service. Food retailers must
understand the new dynamics in the industry and react properly in order to
accelerate growth. The focus is on the
Grocerant niche.

Here is what we understand consumer discontinuity in food retailing began in 2005 and
continues. New points of distribution are growing, becoming smaller in
size.

“The future has already arrived; it’s
just not evenly distributed.” A quote made famous by William Gibson sure comes to
mind don’t you think. Fresh prepared
“better for you” food and food options are driving the grocerant niche and
growing rapidly.

Successful
convenience store operators the likes of Sheetz and Wawa once two notable
regional players are now seeing 50,000+ unit 7 Eleven entering the fresh food
meal niche and Casey’s General Stores continues to drive sales and frequency
with fresh prepared food.

Many restaurant
companies the ilk of Darden and Brinker will undergo additional scrutiny in
order to find a repositioned niche that will sustain them over time. Legacy grocery stores that are seemingly
stuck in the middle will simply fade away.
Wal-Mart’s supply chain advantage and industry research advantages will
simply prove too much. The added points
of fresh prepared food distribution in the retail channel offered by Walgreens
and Rite Aid will renew the local neighborhoods and rekindle community to that
sector.

William
Gibson quote: “The
future has already arrived; it’s just not evenly distributed.” How many of you
are prepared for 2010. If you have been
waiting to see what’s next? If so you
might have just missed the bus. Do you know where you’re company can best
succeed five years from now?

Are
you trapped doing what you have always done and doing the same way. Interested
in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? via
Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Time starved, on the go. Those are two drivers of change in our
Omni-channel retail food world today. They are not driving change as fast as
Hand Held Marketing or the new Hand Held Marketplace.

Without doubt smartphones are driving change in
how food retailers market, position, and sell food today. Hand Held marketing
places the consumer in control with a heightened sense of urgency /
satisfaction. Mobile, and web based food ordering are no longer options for
restaurants they are must have.

When we began working with Cyberslice,
CyberMeals, and Food.Com in 1999 the sales mix for restaurant takeout sales was
edging up to 5% of total sales. Today,
it is closer to 10%. Momentum driven by
technology, the changing consumer, and economic bifurcation all has to a
renewed focus on takeout. Foodservice
Solutions® study found restaurant sales leakage driven by the 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome

So, what can be done? How do legacy restaurants embrace Hand Held
Marketing, Hand Held Food, and an Evolving Marketplace competition? What should
they be thinking about? Footprint
Malaise? New Non-Traditional fresh food
retailers? Millennials? Well, all of those and many more.

In the next five years we are estimating that
30% of sales within the restaurant sector will come from Take-Out,
Take-Away. With another 7% garnered from
catering. That is going to fundamentally
change the focus, of your product mix, marketing mix, while extending your
customer reach.

Fresh food disruption is on the way. The undercurrents of change are in the palm
of your customers hand and every food retailer will soon be there as well. How will you standout?

Are
you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions
5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a
platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more
information.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

All of the 118
restaurants at London’s Heathrow International Airport are now selling ‘hampers’
“on-board-picnic” too travelers. Flying
out of or headed home travelers
can take hampers prepared by Heathrow restaurants on flights, including pizzas
and meals by Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay.

The
service is available at all Heathrow's 118 restaurants across its five
terminals. “The 49 brands involved range from chain cafés, such as Pret a
Manger and EAT, to restaurants including Heston Blumenthal’s The Perfectionist
Café and Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food, as well as Caviar House and The Gorgeous
Kitchen.”

The
hampers as they call them vary in price and size according to venue. The cost range is from £5 and £50. They must be around 40 x 20 x 10cm in
size, all are collapsible and designed
to be easily stowed away under the seat or in the overhead locker. Some hampers
are insulated bags designed to “ensure the food retains maximum taste and freshness at 35,000 feet”, keeping hot food warm and
cold food cool, such as the ones from Caviar House which features an ice
compartment.

Passengers
who return their insulated bags to Caviar House are offered a 15 per cent
discount on their next on-board picnic purchase. Wow what a marketing tool or
tailgate product as well. “Customization is key to this program as hampers can
be tailor-made to meet any dietary requirements upon request at each of the
restaurants and can be ready-to-go or prepared in about 15 minutes, depending
on the type of meal selected.”

British
Airways (BA) said it welcomes the new picnic service, and doesn't envisage it
affecting cabin space usage or creating too much extra rubbish to be cleared
from passengers who bring a hamper on board.

"If
customers wish to bring their own food on board, they are very welcome
to," Where are you selling food?

Saturday, September 20, 2014

What is faster than
fast food? Airline food of course,
should restaurants be worried? Hard
charging business travelers are accustom to full-flavored meals delivered to
them while they work aboard a flight coming and going to and from sales call or
clients offices.

There is one online
German grocery store called Allyouneed.com is launching an Airline Meal Delivery
service — called Air Food One— to deliver either a
"classic" or "vegetarian" Airline prepared meals to your
home once a week.

The grocery store is
teaming up with LSG Sky Chefs,
the food provider for Lufthansa airlines in Europe cater to many U.S. Airlines.
They are not planning to sell the meals served in the back of the plane
(steerage). They are focusing on first class meal service and business class
meals.

Here
is how it works; each week,” the delivered meal will match the business class
menu currently available on planes. Meals are delivered on Wednesdays, and can
be frozen until the want-to-be traveler is ready to throw them in the oven.”
This option is consider it an alternative to restaurant takeout. This service
is only available currently in Germany, but it won’t be long before hits the
U.S.

LSG Sky Chefs is not stopping there with direct home
meal delivery either. They now provide
a wide array of professional catering services to meet client’s increasingly
diversified needs. “These range from the management consultancy of staff
restaurants and clubs to providing tailor-made school meals on an individual
basis; from organizing open-air parties to sumptuous VIP banquets.”

Sky Chefs is a traditional fresh food retailer commonly
known as a B2B retailer. These progressive Non-traditional avenues of
distribution open up the competitive landscape that is retail foodservice
today. Do you know who your next competitor will be?

Are
you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way? Interested
in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email
us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information.

Friday, September 19, 2014

The
convenience store sector continues to outperform other retail sectors, in large
part driven by ever-increasing sales of fresh prepared food. In fact, fresh
prepared food sales are the root cause of the undercurrents of disruption
changing the price, value and service equilibrium within the retail food sector
today.

Companies the ilk of Wawa Inc., Sheetz
Inc., Rutter’s Farm Stores, Casey’s General Stores Inc. and 7-Eleven Inc. are
all expanding year-over-year sales while building new units. Differentiation
with quality ready-to-eat and heat-and-eat fresh prepared food is one way to
created marketing buzz and customer trial. However, that model is changing and
changing fast, driven by evolving demographics, technology and virtual
convenient concepts.

Five
years ago, many leading convenience store operators were worried about other
c-stores stealing their ideas. Then, they began to think they should only worry
about the day when they stop stealing ideas. Well, that day may have arrived.
The current convenience store business model is under attack.

Even after seven successful years of
seeing convenience stores’ retail fresh food sales leading the food industry in
growth, c-store operators cannot rest on their laurels. I’ve seen how
“footprint malaise” can be a leading contributor to consumer discontent and
migration to other channels. Although fresh food continues to be the driver of
customer frequency, retailers have seen gasoline volume tapering off with
improved gas efficiencies taking a toll.

Youth-Targeted
C-stores

A recent study found that Americans
aged 16 to 24 who have driver’s licenses fell to 67 percent in 2011, the lowest
level in roughly a half-century. This same segment of consumers would rather
have a smartphone than a driver’s license.

The consumer is dynamic, not static;
business models must be as well. Are you building or remodeling stores for
yesterday’s customers or tomorrow’s?

While smartphones and technology are
driving disruption in seemingly every sector of the economy, new technology and
startups led by 20-something CEOs are now taking aim at the convenience store
sector and all fresh-food retailers. Burger King’s purchase/merger with Tim
Horton’s is just one example of a legacy food retailer trying to mitigate
customer migration with daypart expansion, but that may not be enough.

Who’s
Competing In Convenient Convenience?
E?

In an omnichannel/cross-channel retail
world, simply doing what you have always done and doing it the same way does
not work.

Back in 2011, when Scott
Stanford and Shervin Pishevar led separate investments in Uber’s
$37-million Series B round, fellow investors and friends scoffed. “Why are you
guys investing in a limo company?” the naysayers asked. Today, Uber is
operating in 128 cities and valued at $18 billion.

Today, Uber also is offering a free
delivery service called Uber Corner Store as a means to garner more customers.
Yes, the company is serving young customers that don’t drive, aging customers
who are too old to drive and lower-income customers who can’t afford a car
full-time to drive. Since Uber’s store is a virtual location, the return on
investment is much less than a brick-and-mortar store.

Stanford and Pishevar did not stop
there, though. They formed a venture capital firm called Sherpa Ventures.
One of their first big bets was a $28-million Series B investment in a San
Francisco-based food delivery startup called Munchery, which makes meals
and delivers them within one hour.

Munchery and Uber are putting the
“convenient” in convenience. Now, you may be thinking that technology-based
food companies will not affect your business. Tell that to Waldon Books, Barnes
& Noble, Crown Books and maybe your favorite local bookstore.

Are you building a convenient brand
beyond your four walls?

Technology:
Once A Friend, Now a Foe

Sherpa
Ventures co-founder Stanford said, “When you introduce something like Uber or
Munchery, you change the paradigm with not only how that service or product is
consumed, but how it is provided … If you can change the underlying economics of
that delivery platform or that value chain, it puts you in a really interesting
position from a financial perspective.”

When
Red Lobster opens a new restaurant these days, it does it very much the same
way it did 46 years ago. Sure, it will have an updated menu, décor and
messaging, but the business model has not been changed. Red Lobster and maybe
your company’s business model might just look more like yesterday’s business
model than tomorrow’s business model.

There
is a growing trend of companies that, thanks to smartphone technology, are
providing efficient and innovative on-demand services. They can make your
business look outdated. Consumer expectation has changed as a result of greater
connectivity. From brick-and-mortar locations, consumers are fast looking to
“point, click and eat” solutions for immediate consumption — no gas required.

The Migration of Legacy Grocery Stores

Legacy
grocery stores are migrating into the "convenient convenience" space
as well.

Sharon
Price, grab-and-go food guru for the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain
(formerly owned by Tesco plc), recently said: “We set out to develop more
breakfast options that are delicious but not overloaded with calories, perfect
for the customer looking for healthier options on the go.”

These
grab-and-go breakfast items are priced to compete with c-stores and
quick-service restaurants. They will complement the lunch and dinner
fresh-prepared, ready-to-eat and heat-and-eat offerings.

Whole
Foods, meanwhile, not only offers fresh prepared food for breakfast, lunch and
dinner, but it also has entered the catering and holiday meal business, as well
creating a whole concept around family food and fun that continues to drive
sales and bottom-line profits.

From Handheld Food to Hand Held Food
Ordering

Every retail food sector has noticed a
discontinuity in consumer food shopping behavior, and all are fighting
for share of stomach. Contributing
to this displacement is technology and demographics. Where once the family
dinner was the bastion of American household, today 32 percent of dinner
occasions are eaten alone.

Are you trapped doing what you have
always done and doing it the same way? How long before virtual location
startups garner 5 percent, 10 percent or even 20 percent of your market share?

Thursday, September 18, 2014

While well documented, the declining sales and customer
counts at Darden’s flagship Olive Garden don’t seem to be being address by
either the current leadership or proposed leadership. Sure, Darden's sales were only down one
percent when last reported. The simple
fact is the un-robust economy is inching forward and Olive Garden continues to
lag the economy, the industry, and ilk niche brands.

The
Olive Garden current promotion “Buy One Take One & A Movie is a short term
tactic that will edify the brand with consumers. We would like to give Olive
Gardens team some credit for it, but since they simply copied Maggiano’s Little
Italy’ success with their Today and Tomorrow special, we can’t do that. Copycat marketing and positioning can buy a
brand time, not authenticity. Current Olive Garden leadership seemingly has
lost the pulse of the consumer, the brand, and food retailing consumer
relevance.

New Undercurrents Evolving

The
undercurrents of evolving consumer shopping behavior, availability of
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food, time-starved consumers, and
lack of appropriate cooking skill-set, combined with the fact no one wants to
do dishes or empty the dishwasher create what Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant
Guru calls “the emerging Grocerant Tsunami”.

It
is at that intersection that legacy food retailers will either adapt or get
left behind at an accelerated rate. Olive
Garden appears to be near the point they may become a Grocerant Tsunami victim. That is very close to when Olive Gardens business model will look more like Kodak’s and Red
Lobster than Chipotle’s.

Educational Mix-Up

The
294 side PowerPoint by Starboard Value LP is more akin to a tier one graduate
school exercise filled with facts based on legacy metrics. Metric’s that while relevant in 1980’s,
1990’s, 2000’s collectively are simply not as important today. The 294 slide PowerPoint is not road map to
retail foodservice customer relevance today.

While
it’s 294 slides are a great read if you’re a college student and a laudable
template for novices food service consultants.
Its lack of focus on the consumer, consumer retail food consumer
migration, or Olive Gardens brand promise reflecting an industry naiveté’ that
simply-put creates more doubt than answers. Reinforcing the notion, not all
graduate school exercises are a harbinger of success.

Without
doubt the legacy tactics outlined in the PowerPoint could and can product a
substantial positive cash flow and increased EBITDA. The assumption that combining legacy tactics,
using a legacy tier one business school playbook to address today’s retail food
environment is more akin to asking the Minnesota Twins to play the Seattle
Seahawks in a game a football. It’s not going to happen.

Evolving Consumer

The
consumer is dynamic not static. Olive
Garden continues capitulating market share in large part because they are
utilizing yesterday’s game plan, yesterday’s tactics. No matter how many slides or how high
Darden’s current leadership stacks yesterday’s tactics the result will be
continued brand discontinuity. While the
Starboard Value PowerPoint was filled with intellectual quotient (IQ) it was
completely lacking any emotional quotient (EQ).

Starboard
Value LP address every legacy operating attribute ever discussed from labor,
liquor, to liability with one glaring problem.
They address all with the same metric’s measures of the past that
existing management has addressed. They
simply think they can do it better. Yesterday’s tactics will garner for
Starboard ilk results.

Today’s Action Not Yesterday’s Playbook

The
retail food playing field is not the same as it was 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago. The industry and consumer have evolved,
consumers continue to evolve.
Yesterday’s tactics don’t stack up to today’s customer relevance.

Neither
current nor proposed leadership has even begun to address how Olive Garden is
stifled by footprint malaise, a leaking brand promise, employee discontent, or
contemporized customer relevance. Doing more of the same will simply garner the
same results.

It’s our hope that Olive Garden’s competing
proposed leadership teams focus on the customers not the each other. The
PowerPoint tactics outlined in the short term would unlock some valued.
Overriding the short term value it would continue to erode brand value. Without brand value, the pace of customer
migration would only increase. If
leadership is not in for the long term then customers will not either.

Are
you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way? Interested
in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email
us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

When
Casey’s General Stores began selling Pizza and additional prepared foods 7
years ago no one not even Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ Steven Johnson
believed it will become the mammoth driver of success it has. Johnson described it then as ‘natural fit’
with strong potential. Wow was he right.

Bill
Walljasper, Casey's General Stores CFO recently stated that sales volumes at
new stores in three new states are significantly outpacing our other core
states. Johnson calls that ‘Momentum’.

Casey's
2015 fiscal first quarter, ended July 31, the numbers were exceptional.
Continuing driving success was Prepared food and fountain was the biggest
winner of the quarter. Same-store sales rose 11.1 percent year over year, with
an impressive 59.9-percent average margin according to Walljasper.

Companywide, Casey's reported total
revenues of $2.3 billion, an 8.3-percent increase vs. one year ago clearly
prepared food was the chain driver. In addition, Casey's continues to add
pizza delivery to more locations. In its 2015 first quarter, Casey's added
pizza delivery to 12 more stores, and now offers this option at approximately
365 locations. Walljasper also reported that Casey's will begin testing
online ordering for pizza delivery in October.

Casey's operates 1,837 convenience
stores as of July 31, 2014 the last official count. With 1,837 locations, $2.3
billion in sales for the Quarter, and fresh prepared food as a driver Casey’s
is a company everyone should be keeping an eye on. Success does leave clues.

Are
you trapped doing what you have always done and doing the same way. Interested
in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email
us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Is your restaurant ‘Looking
A Customer Ahead’ or are you looking
at customers today? Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will soon change the
retail food landscape once again. Is
your restaurant ready to accept Apple Pay?
Many are including Subway, Panera Bread and McDonald's.

Nielsen
reports that more and more of us seemingly live our lives online, connected day
and night through our smart phones, tables, computers. Nielsen found that we ”research our purchases online (63
percent), look up reviews (63 percent) and find online shopping convenient (78
percent), but we are still hesitant to make some types of purchases online.” That research may be outdated with the launch
of iPhone 6.

Restaurant sales increased once were
driven by new spring and fall menu changes creating buzz around customer
relevance. Today Limited Time Offers
(LTO’s) arrive at minimum every 6 weeks at major chains and monthly at most
independent restaurants. More often than not today customer relevance is
dictated by technology specifically ease of use, hand held information, hand
held offers, and real time tweets or invitations.

Nielsen found that “Americans’ willingness to
make airline and hotel/tour reservations, and to buy electronic equipment,
ebooks and music (non-download) have all more than doubled in the last three years. With
Apple Pay those reluctant to pay online which according to Nielsen is about 37%
might quickly change their mind. With Apple Pay your credit card number does
not get exchanged during the transaction.

If your are ‘Looking A Customer Ahead’
look no further than Millennials a recent survey found that Millennials make up
more than half of all ecommerce channels sales and are about four time the
representation of Baby Boomers. If you’re ‘Looking A Customer Ahead’ you need
to focus on Millennials for they are “aging-in” just as Boomers are “aging-out”.

Foodservice Solutions® team quantified,
qualified, restaurant industry customer count declines due to the 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome and that same team believes Apple Pay
will become a disruptive force moving forward. The growth of Apple Pay is more
likely to be exponential than linear, just because that has been true sine
Moore propounded his famous law.

You may have Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat
fresh food but my point is simple no mater your menu, service style or location
your customer relevance may well decline if you don’t adopt Apple Pay. The
consumer is dynamic not static your restaurant must be as well. Is your restaurant “aging-in or “aging-out?

Are
you trapped doing what you have always done and doing the same way. Interested
in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your
retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email
us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information.

Monday, September 15, 2014

McDonald's USA is celebrating its
second national Free Coffee Event from Sept. 16 through Sept. 29, during which
customers can get a free small McCafé coffee during breakfast hours at
participating McDonald's restaurants across the country.

Breakfast beckons first Free Coffee
Event was held in March, when McDonald's gave away millions of cups of McCafé coffee during a two-week period
scoffing at Taco Bells entrance into the breakfast daypart.

Greg Watson, senior vice president,
McDonald's U.S. Menu Innovation stated, "We know our guests are busy,
especially during the morning, and a free cup of coffee goes a long way in
helping get their days started. That's why we want to treat customers once
again so they can taste for themselves just how great their mornings can be
with a cup of McCafé coffee and freshly made breakfast."

Extending the value of the promotion
while making it interactive and participatory during this event, McDonald's
wants customers to "sip and tell" their embarrassing pre-coffee
stories on social media with @McCafe using the hashtag #SipandTell. Select
social media fans who share tales of morning mishaps, like missing the last
train to work on Monday or leaving the house with mismatched shoes, will be
surprised with custom gifts and experiences from @McCafe to help them start
their morning off right, the company said.

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us specializes in outsourced business
development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food
retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.
Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global
leader in the Grocerant niche since 1991

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Mix and Match meal component bundling
continues to drive success in the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared
food space. Today young multicultural
and GenX shoppers are interested in staying fit the most frequent drinkers of
bottled water. Are you selling more than soda fountain beverages?

In a recently report from research firm
Packaged Facts found that, “the younger generation,
particularly the 35 to 44 year-old age group, shows the highest likelihood of
consuming bottled water.…Additionally, adults who drink large quantities of
bottled water are more likely to be part of a multicultural population segment
-- 31 percent more likely than average to be Hispanic and 36 percent more
likely to be African-American.”

The multicultural makeup of those who
drink bottled water also implies a larger household with children under the age
of 18, according to Packaged Facts. In terms of lifestyle, those who drink
bottled water are more interested in staying physically fit and more likely to
drink thirst quencher/activity drinks as well.

Because bottled water consumers fall
within a younger age range and thus have above-average receptivity to
advertising messages, the Packaged Facts report
suggest manufacturers and retailers to leverage social media and cell
phones as avenues to promote such products.

The study, Bottled Water in the U.S.,
was conducted among 60 million adults who consumed an average of one glass of bottled
water per day within the past seven days.

Are you trapped
doing what you have always done and doing the same way. Interested in learning how Foodservice
Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while
creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation
and individualization? via Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.